Independent young entrepreneur counts the ways Ivy Tech helped him craft ideas into businesses
You could call Matthew Tiller an entrepreneur, but that would be like calling Donald Trump a real estate investor.
With multiple business startups – and enough ideas to keep him busy for a lifetime – the 26-year-old Ivy Tech
graduate is investing long hours in the expectation of big returns later.
And he’s having a ball.
“I work 16 hour days every day, but it’s more fun than I’ve ever had,” he said. “There are plenty of opportunities
for recreation, but I rarely take them. If my plans pay off, I’ll have plenty of time to relax in the future.”
Ivy Tech gets credit from Matt for many reasons, starting with the formal training that honed his natural aptitude
for information technology. “First we learned the software of course, but then it was about the craft of software
design. With every program, my Ivy Tech instructors nailed it down for me.
“I’ve been to other schools, and I didn’t get the same treatment as I did at Ivy Tech,” he states. “Ivy Tech doesn’t
have 50 plus students in the classroom and the profs are more attentive.
“It made a huge difference for me, especially having to learn so much detail and how to use and create programs myself.”
With projects related to online clothing stores, construction companies and Smart phone/Iphone apps, it would be
easy to assume he could use some focus. Wrong. Matt has a knack for Internet business marketing, which Ivy Tech
helped him hone into a sellable set of skills.
“I’ve been messing with computers since high school; I’d buy them from the thrift store and rebuild them,” he says.
“It got to the point I could learn how to build a server and create a prototype to fit a company’s needs. Businesses
find it useful to have a tailor-made server which can be used for their specific purposes.”
Matt recently got the online clothing store’s first 20 products up. “That goes back to Ivy Tech too!” he asserts.
“You can take products and put them online and hope they sell, but people don’t think about the importance of image.
I can play up that aspect and dictate the impression a site makes, and that affects sales. I got that from
Ivy Tech – coming up with good ideas, not just a pretty pamphlet or fancy visual.”
It also requires the right equipment, Matt says. “I have a Nikon D80 for my work, which I wouldn’t have known how
to use if I hadn’t learned so much from Darryl Jones (Columbus campus Visual Communications instructor). He has 50
books published on fine art photography. He was a great teacher.”
Matt didn’t plunge into his diverse business interests without first creating a strategy and a financial cushion.
“I have a safety net, a financial backup plan,” he says. “It takes a long time for freelancing and independent
businesses to work.
“I learned how to set priorities and work in sequence. Whenever I want to do something, I pull out of a piece of
paper and make a list – sometimes its 30 pages long. Then I prioritize it and see how fast I can complete each task.”
There’s a master list of projects, and a list for every project. “All these lists, if I didn’t make them, I couldn’t
finish the projects and think of new ideas,” he said. “I’m very strict with myself about my lists and doing the tasks
on each. Without repetition and consistency, even the best ideas won’t succeed.”
Ironically, Matt has discovered that Internet Business to Business marketing contracts are best served the
old-fashioned way: face-to-face. “I tried a long time to get projects and businesses moving strictly through
email and the Web, but it didn’t work. You need that personal contact at some point in the negotiations, at
least for more complex ventures.”
In this extremely tough economy, Matt is convinced individuals need a diverse, well-developed set of skills,
and flexibility. “My college education taught me to look at art from a business perspective, and to look at
business in an abstract sense. I would never have had those insights without Ivy Tech, and that’s because of
Ivy Tech’s individualized approach to education. The faculty is experienced in these fields and they take a lot
of time working with you. I couldn’t get that anywhere else.”